Focke-Wulf Ta 152 C-1

Converting Dragon's 1/48 Ta 152 H Using Fusion Models Resin Set

Introduction

The Focke-Wulf Ta 152C was Kurt Tank's finest fighter, and the one
which represented the pinnacle of mainstream development of the Fw 190
line. Series production orders for the Ta 152C had been placed in
October 1944, but the actual production was only just beginning when
Allied forces overran the assembly plants, so this fighter never entered
service with the Luftwaffe.

The Ta-152C was the airplane Kurt Tank was thinking of when he told
the pilots of III/JG54 that the Fw-190D-9 they had just converted onto
was "a provisional type."

The Ta 152B has originally been envisaged as having interchangeable
Jumo 213 or DB 603, but with the approval of the Ta 152C the Jumo 213
was to be standardised for this version. However, it was decided to give higher priority to the Ta
152C, and only three prototypes of the Ta 152B-series were completed
before the war came to an end.

In August 1944, following the stoppage of the Ta 152B program
permission was granted to adapt the Ta 152B airframe to the DB603 series
engine. Kurt Tank, who all the time favoured the Daimler-Benz powerplant, made a maximum effort to bring the new type forward,
utilizing as much of the B-series airframe as possible. Plans were afoot
to commence production deliveries from the Roland Group by April 1945.

The Ta 152C with the lighter DB 603 engine was otherwise identical to
the Ta 152B. The MW 50 boost
installation was standard, and cabin pressurisation was deleted from the
specifications to shorten development time and simplify production.
During December 1944 and January 1945, the first Ta 152C-O service test
aircraft joined the test program. The definitive production version was
to be the Ta 152C-1, and it was hoped that the first examples could be
rolling off the production lines in April of 1945.

The Model

When
I set my mind on building a Ta 152C, the choice of the kit wasn't
difficult. The only Ta 152 available in 1/48 scale is Dragon's Ta 152H,
also known from the Trimaster and Italeri boxings. As Ta 152H differed
very significantly from the "C" model, in engine installation and
wing configuration, the excessive conversion was imminent.

My greatest concern at this stage was finding the
appropriate pieces for the conversion. Scratchbuilding, while
feasible, usually gives more headache during construction. Given the
necessary surgery of the fuselage I was concerned about the structural
strength of the multi-part Dragon Ta 152H fuselage. Also, scratchbuilding the entire Ta 152C wing would be a massive undertaking.

Luckily I got my hands on Fusion Models set no. 4806. Better still,
upon opening the box I could not believe the excellent quality of the
pieces! The set consisted of an instruction sheet, decals and 17
excellently cast resin parts. These were devoid of air bubbles or other
imperfections, indeed you could compare these castings to the best
injection-moulding by Tamiya!

The construction started conventionally with the cockpit and fuselage
interior. Soon the nose was cut off to insert the new resin one.

The Ta 152H wings were sawn off just outside of the cannon, paying
attention to limit the damage to the surface detail to the necessary
minimum. Another surprise, the fit of the wings matched the
quality of resin - the wing profile matched exactly and there was only a
little filling and sanding required.

The rest of model was built as per Dragon kit instructions.

Painting

The airframe was then painted following the scheme from the
instruction sheet, with RLM 75/83 upper surfaces and RLM 76 underside.
Some panels on the underside of the wing and fuselage were "left in
natural metal" to reflect the now well-known paint-saving practice of
the final war years in Germany.

The paints used were:

RLM 75 - Gunze Sangyo

RLM 83 - homemade mix of Tamiya acrylics

RLM 76 - mix of Tamiya acrylics

Aluminium - Various shades of Testors metalizers

The weathering was done following the photos of the original air, of
which luckily there are many. The most prominent aspects of the
weathering are the exhaust stains and simulation of chipped paint.

The Fusion Model decals (of excellent quality) were applied following
the traditional application of Micro Sol and Micro Set, which was enough
to disguise decal film completely.

In order to protect all the models I use a satin acrylic varnish from
Windsor & Newton, applying two fine layers with an interval of 50
minutes between them.

Finishing touches included attaching the remaining small details and
adding an antenna wire.

Additional images, click to enlarge

References

Famous Fighters of the Second World War -
William Green, Doubleday, 1967.

The Focke-Wulf 190, A Famous German Fighter -
Heinz Nowarra, Harleyford, 1965.

Warplanes of the Third Reich - William Green,
Doubleday, 1971.

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